Not really an entire build, but decided to spruce up my ODAC with a bit of that vintage Yamaha wood surround look. Just threw together scrap wood and leftover walnut veneer for fun. Not very detail oriented but I like it

I don't really know much about selecting discretes, and have zero experience with mosfets in any form. Would the two that I have be apropriate to use together or do I need to buy the other part to go with the one I have already?

You'd really have to ask the circuit designer. The parts are similar (the one you have looks like a beefier version) but it depends on how critical the performance of that part is in the circuit.

The only ways to know for sure are to 1. simulate the part in pspice or similar 2. stick it in and see how it performs.

I wouldn't deviate from the BOM unless I knew exactly what I was doing

what a nice build you have there,Rude wolf. May I ask if it was hard to make the dynalo as your first project ? I read through some diagnose topic over the amb and diy forum and thinking I'd better start with something a bit less complex

what a nice build you have there,Rude wolf. May I ask if it was hard to make the dynalo as your first project ? I read through some diagnose topic over the amb and diy forum and thinking I'd better start with something a bit less complex

Thanks!

To tell the truth it can be easy or very hard. You could just parrot the build as stuffing the boards isn't hard as long as you don't mess up anything. Casing will most likely be the hardest part but that also can be simplified by using ready made e-bay cases that have most of the holes you need.

The bad news is that there is a lot that CAN be messed up and despite the well written documentation there are some issues that are poorly documented (biasing, for example). Also if by some misfortune you do mess up (incorrect soldering, DMM probe slippage, etc.) there are quite a lot parts that can get damaged. Troubleshooting discrete circuits is a real pain in the rear end. If you lack the knowledge most of the times it might be easier to blindly swap out any of the parts that might've gone bad. That can get pretty expensive real fast and you still need to have some idea on what went wrong. When I accidentally connected the PSU out of polarity I had destroyed every transistor on the amp board and visually there was no sign of any damage. After two weeks of troubleshooting I still had to replace almost every active element save for the servo opamp and diodes. This brings me to the most important part- NEVER RUSH! I might have saved myself from all this trouble if I had taken my time. Also never work when tired- you will make mistakes and they can cost you dearly, especially when working with higher voltages.

In any case- the Dynalo CAN be tackled as a first project. Would I recommend it as a first project? Depends on the person.

P.S. There is a legend about a guy who made a T2 as his first project.

P.P.S. I've never known as much about electronics as I do now if I had done everything correctly the first time around.

Thanks for the great detailed response. Casing is not a problem since I have a friend who can source that for me. My main fear is the trouble shooting you mentioned. knowing my self, skew up some things is just a matter of time.

Anw reading your post made me decide to man up and take the job. Another thanks for that

Hi all, I've been working on a project in the past couple of days, while trying to teach myself to use Diptrace a bit better, and at the same time solving my problem of not having a truly pocketable headphone amp.

My design is a tiny, smd based Cmoy-style amp, which will be usable with the parts that I have available for cheap and not too much hassle (international shipping etc.). I've selected a buf-634 (to packaged) virtual ground. My first pcb design is as of yet untested since I'm waiting on my SMD parts to arrive, but it's simple enough that I'd think it'll work (perhaps with some bugs)

all resistors are 0812 size for ease of use.

This is my design, including the power supply. I haven't specified values yet since its still an early prototype, and I'm using a few shortcuts (eg, 2 sets of headers arranged for use as the potentiometer pads)

My amp is based on a tiny 20x30 mm board which I'm hoping will be possible for pretty much anyone to toner transfer and do at home. I've had success with as small as .3 mm traces, but this board will be all .4 or greater for the sake of making it a little less finnicky. It's going to be single sided, again for ease of making it, and that it constrains me to routing in a bit better ;) I'm sure any decent commercial board maker wouldn't have any trouble with it at all, but I'm aiming to make it workable as a home made product (preferably with very few or no jumpers.)

My first design is just the amp itself, since I have a power supply made with strip board to fit onto a 9v battery clip, and then wiring that to the seperate amp module. I've found it can be easier to fit into really small places if it can be separated out, though my final design will be for a single board, single battery solution.

If anyone wants to post some critique or anything (and make sure my design is entirely sound!) it'd be hugely appreciated. So far this project has been really interesting, and its definitely helping to develop my skills at pcb layout in CAD.

I'm going to etch my first prototype in the next day or 2, and will let you all know how it goes. I shall also be posting some follow up to this when I get the time (and enough material to justify a thread of it's own.)

Anyone who's looking for a really simple but pretty damn powerful design tool, that has a very reasonable learning curve, I'd suggest having a look at DipTrace. It has a free version, and personally I think it's a much better tool than eagle, KiCAD and all the other free tools I've tried on windows or linux. Eventually I'd like to learn Altium, but I figure, one step at a time.

Anw reading your post made me decide to man up and take the job. Another thanks for that

RudeWolf said it all really. If you're patient, do all the research, and have reasonable skill at managing the project/soldering, you can tackle anything.

My first project was a B22, which I chose over the dyna- amps for exactly the reasons above: better documentation and fantastic support from the designer should troubleshooting be needed (it wasn't in my case).

Certainly possible to take on a Dynalo as a first project, given proper research beforehand and some soldering practice. Transistor matching and biasing makes it a little more difficult than the usual first project suggestions. Great job RudeWolf, the layout is incredibly well done!